To edit audio, we will use Audacity which can be run on both PCs and Macs. Apple have their own audio editing software Garageband which is excellent. I won’t have time to teach two different formats, so unless you are already proficient in Garageband, please use Audacity. It is free for our purposes and available here https://www.audacityteam.org/

The high end audio editors Adobe Audition and ProTools are used in professional studios. Adobe Audition started life as Cool Edit Pro used by radio stations and is excellent for more advanced production. In my opinion ProTools is too powerful for the average podcast or radio producer.

Think

Purpose: You will need to think about some of the topics before the session. Think about the Purpose of the podcast. Have you already decided the purpose, or are you simple there to gather the skills and have some insight into podcast production? We will have a discussion about Purpose to start the session.

Audience: Who is or will be your audience?

Equipment: The first question I usually get about podcasting is about the equipment. Don’t worry about that now. The equipment will be determined by the Format and that will be determined by the Audience and Purpose.

WHAT TO BRING

A laptop. It is unlikely that a tablet will be versatile enough to get everything done. There are some “podcast production” apps – great, but we are planning something a little more complex.

Bring an audio recorder if you have one. Don’t worry if you don’t have one, but to do podcasting properly, you should use a proper audio recorder, not an iPhone.

Headphones (on ear rather than in ear).

The among the first exercises will be how to write for radio or podcast so bring a story – a short one.

Also, with this message there is a jpg patch 1400×1400. Bring it too, please.

AFTERWARDS

We will be working fast and furiously for 3 and a half hours. There will be questions and answers all through, but the next day or the next week, something might occur to you, or something wasn’t quite clear enough for you to do it now. Never worry. You can contact me on ds@davysims.com and I will get back to you be phone, email or if absolutely necessary, I’ll drop by to see you.

If you want to arrange your own podcast training and can gather together 6 people, let me know and we can plan a session for your needs. ds at davysims.com